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Be Exceptional cover art

Be Exceptional

Written by: Joe Navarro,Toni Sciarra Poynter - contributor
Narrated by: Will Damron
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Publisher's Summary

"Anyone pursuing success must read this book." (Chris Voss, author of Never Split the Difference)

A master class in leadership from the world’s top body-language expert.

From internationally best-selling author and retired FBI agent Joe Navarro, a groundbreaking look at the five powerful principles that set exceptional individuals apart.

Joe Navarro spent a quarter century with the FBI, pursuing spies and other dangerous criminals across the globe. In his line of work, successful leadership was quite literally a matter of life or death. Now he brings his hard-earned lessons to you. Be Exceptional distills a lifetime of experience into five principles that outstanding individuals live by: 

Self-Mastery: To lead others, you must first demonstrate that you can lead yourself.

Observation: Apply the same techniques used by the FBI to quickly and accurately assess any situation.

Communication: Harness the power of verbal and nonverbal interaction to persuade, motivate, and inspire. 

Action: Build shared purpose and lead by example.

Psychological Comfort: Discover the secret ingredient of exceptional individuals. 

Be Exceptional is the culmination of Joe Navarro’s decades spent analyzing human behavior, conducting more than 10,000 interviews in the field, and making high-stakes behavioral assessments. Drawing upon case studies from history, compelling firsthand accounts from Navarro’s FBI career, and cutting-edge science on nonverbal communication and persuasion, this is a new type of leadership book, one that will have the power to transform for years to come. 

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.  

©2021 Joe Navarro and Toni Sciarra Poynter (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners love about Be Exceptional

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Fantastic Listen and Learn

Fantastic listen and highly recommended

A must to understand what becoming truly exceptional is
required

Thank you Joe Navarro!!!!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

5 Stars!

Great book! I liked very much the chapter about observation. The part about fear was emotional for me. I recommend it for everyone.
Thank you again.

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  • SuzeeSumatra
  • 2021-11-10

Kindly Challenging & Encouraging

This book is structured but not formulaic.
It emphasizes that being an exceptional leader is always a work in progress propelled by curiosity, caring and a desire to always be observing of the people and circumstances.

Much of the book at the start teaches that self mastery requires
a willingness to try to become keenly observant of oneself,
a willingness to understand one’s own emotional motives one’s own actions
so that
one develops a healthy self control of one’s behavior and expression of emotions.
In the first two chapters, there is encouragement to have the mindset of an apprentice so as to be consistent in self learning.

The middle section of the book focuses on effective communication that first strives to make meaningful connection before becoming transactional and learning how to take action that is well timed, ethical and takes into consideration the effects of action. Additionally, Mr. Navarro points out that action needs to be pro social, that action is beneficial, solves problems and encourages respect.

The final chapter of the book talks about how exceptional leaders acknowledge fear in the employees, the other person or entity the leader is interacting with. It is this reviewer’s opinion that there is little written about leaders acknowledging fear effectively. When the leader can acknowledge fear in a group, the leader can then provide psychological comfort, a very primal and important need that is hardwired in all humans. Without action to provide psychological comfort, fear transforms into hate. Hate is destructive and is the antithesis of taking pro social action.

The one who has the most hope
has the most influence
in stressful situations.

This last chapter of Mr. Navarro’s book is reminiscent of the theme in many of Brené Brown’s book discussing how vulnerability is key to being resilient. One has to have courage to acknowledge the presence of fear in a group. Only then and with observation can a leader provide the best type of psychological comfort.

Unlike this formally formatted review that uses third person verbiage, Mr. Navarro does a wonderful job of making this book interesting by the many stories of well known and everyday people as well as many stories of Mr. Navarro’s personal and work experiences. These stories illustrates and clarifies the ideas Mr. Navarro presents in his book.

I really enjoyed the narrator’s work with this audiobook.

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  • Anonymous
  • 2021-09-18

Nothing New

Old, but worthwhile, common sense principles, along with windy stories and vague, politically correct, virtue signaling moralizing which made the book hard to finish. A solid C-. Skip this book and read his book on body language instead.

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  • Amazon_Customer
  • 2021-08-17

Cerebral, Intuitive, Self Reflective, Insightful

Joe and Toni did an excellent job on "Be Exceptional". A very cerebral and self reflective read, the book does not drag on or loose you in its story.

I wrote down multiple quotes and insightful words Joe and Toni shared in this brilliant read. I will absolutely carry the self reflection I have discovered in this book with me throughout my lifetime.

Thank you Joe and Toni for putting in all of the brilliance and time that you have into this work of art! Will does an excellent job at narrating the story, I was very engaged throughout the whole book.

I highly reccomend "Be Exceptional" to anyone looking to be the best they can absolutely be, and how to get there. You will navigate how to embody leadership, trust within yourself, trust within others, and you will gain insight on others' thought processes, additionally how to embody the exceptional character of those you look up to, and so much more throughout this read!

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  • Sarabeth
  • 2021-12-21

good stuff, but then the political narrative

I enjoyed it, great examples. Practical advice and steps to exceptionalism.

There was some commentary that was obviously left leaning and negative against the "far right" - but was minimal and not overly distracting.

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2021-08-05

A good listen

I liked it mostly because it validated things I have learned before. But also because it taught me some new simple effective approaches to reading body language and a few other things put inro abenevolent frame. His ideas were conveyed in simple and effective actionable terms.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 2021-07-16

Great book

Eye opening, informative, life-changing, and an all-around great guide to success. this will be a book that I will be referring to for the rest of my life. Great read. Joe Navarro is right up there with David Goggins when it comes to being exceptional and teaching us how to do the same.

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  • Xander Cruz
  • 2021-07-07

Excellent

This book is very insightful. It draws from many years of research and the author's personal experiences. It could be a self-improvement course on its own. I really appreciated the way each section of the book brought a different aspect of conscientiousness to the reader's attention. Whether you enjoy studying anthropology, psychology, body language, ethics, or humanism, this is a book for you. It focuses on cultivating wellness, not just identifying problematic behavioral patterns. It is a great source to help increase self-awareness and self-inventory. I'd highly recommend it. There are also a lot of great stories which add to the usefulness of the book. Great for helping in either business or personal endeavors.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 2021-09-08

An Exceptional Book

I usually don't write reviews, but with this book I had to because I want to let you, the potential reader know that this book worth much more than you think, I think it is one of the most important ones.

I read about 60 books about self development but this book caught me off guard with lot's of new, interesting, updated and life changing information.

The narrator nailed it.

The book is very easy to read as it's very interesting.

My most memorable moment was when Joe Navarro shared the ultimate takeaway from this book, which I will not share as I will let you enjoy the moment by yourself.

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  • Ken Fridley
  • 2021-08-25

Excellent!

Undoubtedly the best book of its kind that I’ve ever read or listened. It should be mandatory reading for everyone! A truly exceptional book and roadmap for life!

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  • Amy Rutzen
  • 2021-08-24

More Than Once

Great book! One of those reads (listens) that is so profoundly simple, so rich in content and concept that I’m confident that one time through is not adequate. I plan to go through it at least twice more this year. Great book!

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